Lustful Purity, Wrathful Love, Sweet Misery
by Farfello
Summary: Three assassins find themselves in a bind when their secret of stealing the Gundams and the keys is on the verge on going into the open...And the pilots think their Gundams were destroyed long ago...Extreme violence.
1. I

^Disclaimer: I don't own Gundamwing. Damn…anyway, so I don't own it, don't sue me, I'll be sad. Hey, but I own my own characters!!! Don't complain, Dragoness, cause I ain't listening…*hums Sweet Misery*  
  
A/N: The code name Sweet Misery did not come from the Michelle Branch song, even though I was humming it in the disclaimer. It came from a long way back, way before the spirit room was released.  
  
* slash * alert. This is a warning. Don't pretend it ain't there, cause it is!  
  
//….//-thoughts  
  
* flash back *  
  
Sun shone brightly through the un-curtained windows and woke Asheth from her forever light sleeping. Pale greenish gray eyes were barely visible through the fluttering lashes of the young woman as she sat up in bed and looked around. She slid the white tank top strap back up on her shoulder and tried to remember what had happened the previous night.  
  
*A brightly lit corridor was echoing with the sounds of a lone human walking through it. It turned the corner and flipped through the keys to the locked door. Then, after sliding the right key into the lock and was about to turn it, very light footsteps echoed through the white hallway, that didn't belong to the first human.  
  
//Whoever is there is going to be sorry when I get through with them. Aren't I the only one with access to this floor?//  
  
As the footsteps neared, the female figure tensed and readied herself for battle. She slid the keys out of the door, careful to lock it and levitated herself into the air and flew silently away. She turned the corner, then turned the corner again, and found the hunter. He stood stone still and tensed, sensing someone was there.  
  
She silently slid the two ancient small swords into her palms and gripped the tightly. She crossed her arms like a mummy, and the dagger like knives pointed straight down. She waited for the hunter to move.  
  
//Who is that?// She thought.  
  
"I know you are there, who ever you are. I don't come to harm you, but just to talk. I believe you posses something that needs to be returned to its rightful owner. Please, sheath the daggers or whatever you may call them. I know who you are."  
  
//Hmm. What could he want? Well, its not like I couldn't defend myself if I did sheath my swords. Alright.//  
  
As the ancient metal slid against the pale skin, the male figure began to turn around. She lowered herself to the ground and waited.  
  
The male figure turned out to be rather tall with waist length platinum blonde hair and he was wearing some sort of helmet, so his eye color was impossible to figure out. He was wearing a skin-tight black body suit that had a slight blue shine to it.  
  
"Zechs. What is your name?"  
  
"You should know. If you came looking for me, you should at least know my name."  
  
There was silence for a moment, and then he replied.  
  
"Lustful Purity. Now, you own something that belongs to someone I know."  
  
"Is that so? Well, I don't think I'll be giving it up any time soon. What are you seeking?"  
  
"A mobile suit key. You should know, it starts up the-"  
  
"Shut up! I know perfectly well what you are talking about. Now whom does this belong to?"  
  
"That is none of your concern."  
  
"Yes it is. Now tell me."  
  
"If I refuse?"  
  
"Either way I know and either way you aren't getting the key, so the exit is just through that wall."  
  
"What? Impossible! That is a solid wall!"  
  
"Just step a bit closer. Just a little more, a bit more now just wait for a second." She slid out a very small remote controller that seemed to not have any buttons. But, she pushed the button she was looking for and the tile where Zechs was standing collapsed and he fell right through.  
  
"You tricked me! Get me out of here!" He yelled. She looked at where he had fallen. A room with padded walls.  
  
"I'll feed you, don't worry."*  
  
Asheth let the black marble bathtub fill up with water and decided to just take it easy today.  
  
//Just sit back, relax and panic about what happened last night. No, bad plan, go check on the blonde, figure out who he is with, why he wanted the key and check the security on the key. Sounds a bit better. Oh! Then, go stock up on mocha fraps and lemon sorbet. Yeah, that sounds real good.//  
  
She slid into the tub and just relaxed, trying to ignore the nagging desire to go and contact the other female assassins that she hadn't contacted in some thirteen years. Now 33 years old, Asheth still worked as an assassin, but not as a team. 13 years ago the clan broke up and went their separate ways after that one last mission that had been the cause of the separation.  
  
The goal of the mission had become plural. Now, they had each went after each separate goal. Then, they had been informed that they had to protect it forever and them being together was far too dangerous and they had to spilt up. She hadn't contacted either of them since.  
  
//What if someone is after their keys too? But it had been so silent after the mission. Why now? Why 13 years later?//  
  
She dressed herself in her usual dark green body suit that covered her entire body, except her head, and was very shiny. Her hair reached to the bottom of her shoulder blades, and looked black, but shone green in the light. Without her usual high shoes she was about 5.11 and walked with a certain air about her that would never be denied.  
  
She locked her apartment door and ran to the edge of the porch and lifted herself into the air. She enjoyed the wind flying by her and weaving its gentle fingers into her hair and combing it back making it flying about her.  
  
She found her goal and lowered herself from her cloud racing as she called it and landed on the roof of the tall building and looked down on the racing cars in the busy streets of Tokyo.  
  
She unlocked the door leading to the roof and found the elevator and rode it down to her private floor far below ground level. She confidently walked down the hallway and heard a scream from below. Zechs.  
  
She raced to the small hidden staircase, basically jumped the whole staircase and fumbled with the keys. She couldn't find it and decided that she could spare some cash to repair the door. With a strong kick the door was down in a millisecond. She ran in and found someone hovering over Zechs with some sort of liquid, trying to force him to drink it.  
  
"Hey you! That guy, he is mine. Get your own blonde to torture." She snarled. He spun around, very afraid. He dropped the liquid and Zechs caught it. He backed up against the wall and started to rip the padding off the wall to get away. Of course, it wouldn't come off.  
  
She advanced and the man cowered in a violently shaking ball covering his head with his hands. The knives just seemed to appear in her hands as she kneeled down and looked at him.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Please! Don't kill me! I was just sent to kill him and nothing else! If I go back, they'll kill me!"  
  
"Either way you die. You'll be one of Dr. Linda's next experiments. See you later." She said, as she injected a needle into his neck. Then with a flash of light, he was gone. "Went upstairs. You never seeing him again. Trust me. Hand me that liquid, will you?"  
  
"Take it for all I care. Who was that?"  
  
"Weren't you listening? Dr. Linda's next experiment."  
  
"Oh. What is that?" Zechs motioned his head to the small container she was holding.  
  
"Looks like mercury to me. Wouldn't want this stuff in you. Trust me. So, Zechs, you want the mobile suit key?"  
  
"Yes. Why won't you give it to me? It's not like, dangerous or anything."  
  
"I'm surprised at you. You should be the one to know. Your enemy is the one that pilots it, Milliardo Peacecraft." Asheth replied as she walked out the door and levitated the door back into place.  
  
//Now to find Hofida and Lakari.// Asheth thought to herself as she heard the automatic door 'click' as it locked behind her. She knew the room inside out and usually left it in complete darkness. She walked roughly to the middle, then produced a growl-like snarl and waited.  
  
The tile in front of her slid back and a small panel floated up to greet her waiting hands. Her fingers flew across the keypad and after one last tap, a screen popped up in front of her.  
  
//Alright, now where on earth would Hofida be? Good goddess, I forgot how much I loved her. She was like a sister to me. So was Lakari. Hmm…maybe the States? Lets find out.//  
  
Asheth soon found what she was looking for, sent what she needed to send, and closed the program. As she walked out the door, she wondered how many mocha fraps she would have to get. Lakari loved them as much as she did, maybe more.  
  
Asheth slammed the freezer door shut as she finished stocking it up with lemon sorbet and moved on to the mocha fraps when her cell phone rang. She switched it on and waited. She never replied to a call, but waited for the person on the other line to speak.  
  
"Hello? This is Relena Peacecraft, and I've been informed that you know the location of my brother."  
  
"And…"  
  
"I want him back! This is a command from the-"  
  
"Queen of the universe. Trust me, it's not like I'm not up to date on our history. I know exactly who you are. I know exactly who your family was, your old boyfriend, your pink limo driver, your brother and just about everything else. Oh, my sincerest apologies, there is someone buzzing me on my other line."  
  
She looked down at her phone, pushed the button for her other line, and started to organize the mocha fraps. She didn't really hear anything, until someone was yelling hysterically into her ear, which made her fall back in surprise, onto her marble floor, which hurt quite a bit. Now she was annoyed, so whoever it was, she or he wouldn't get off easy.  
  
"I demand to know where Milliardo is!"  
  
"This guy sure is popular."  
  
"Silence! You stupid fool! Tell me where he is now!"  
  
"And if I don't?"  
  
"Well, the consequences would be fatal. Besides, why would he be so popular anyway?"  
  
"That is what I want to know. Okay, so this girl on the other line is going into hysterics about her brother! C'mon, so I know he is her brother, but she doesn't have to go insane on me!"  
  
"Oh, tell me more, please do."  
  
She could tell this guy was actually seriously interested in her problems. So, he was interested, and he hopefully would stay interested, cause he won't be getting off the phone any time soon.  
  
"Can you believe she pulled that 'Queen of the Universe' crap on me! Like, that was ages ago!"  
  
"She does that all the time! She still thinks she rules the world! It annoys the hell out of Milliardo! So in bed the other night, he doesn't stop complaining about her! He basically ruins the whole night for me!"  
  
"Sex deprived, huh?"  
  
"YES! Why didn't Heero kill her when he had the chance?"  
  
"Good question. Now, who are you?"  
  
"Oh, excuse me. Treize Khushrenada. Yours?"  
  
"Oh, on the phone I mostly use my personal code name…"  
  
"Which would be?"  
  
"Lustful Purity."  
  
"Oh! A poem! Anyway, as you can imagine, without my Zechs, I'm being sex deprived worse then ever! Caffeine is not the same, trust me."  
  
"Okay, don't worry. Just a few questions and with the true answers, your Zechs is out of there."  
  
"Hey, why am I telling you this?"  
  
"Yet another good question. You wouldn't make a good teacher. Have a lovely day!" Asheth hung up and returned to her earlier conversation with Relena.  
  
"Really sorry about that. So, what are you getting at? You want your brother returned to you?"  
  
"Of course I do! Now send him back! Now!"  
  
"I'll tell you what I told the guy on the other line. Let me just ask him a few questions and with the right answers, he is back in your hands."  
  
"Other guy?"  
  
"You might know him. He sounds rather important."  
  
"Who is he?"  
  
"Something like Treize Khushrenada…I don't know dammit! You figure it out!"  
  
"Did you just say Treize Khushrenada?"  
  
"So that's how you pronounce it! Yeah. You know the guy? Sweet as can be, but never stops talking. You know he is down with your brother? You probably do. So, if you don't mind I need-"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Look, I need to go. Call him if you're so pissed. Nice talking to you." Asheth said as she hung up on the screaming woman.  
  
As the night drew closer, Asheth dug out her black body suit, very similar to her usual green one, but just black. After polishing her boots, she slipped them on and with a satisfied smile; she began to walk out onto her porch.  
  
Asheth happily leapt into the air and flew straight up into the clouds to watch the sunset disappear into the fluffy clouds. She floated there until the sky was completely black, then dropped altitude and carefully floated to the meeting spot and waited in the dark ally.  
  
She heard footsteps that wished dearly that they couldn't be heard, but to the trained ear, they were quite loud. Asheth floated up into the air for a few minutes until her visitor was right beneath her.  
  
"Asheth…please come out…you're scaring the shit out of me…" Her voice trembled. She was facing the inner part of the ally, so Asheth floated down behind her and walked forward a few deathly quiet paces.  
  
"Where are you? Stop hiding…you're scaring me…if you don't get out soon, I'm leaving. That's it…most of the time I'm patient but this is just scary and annoying. Just come up to me if you have a problem…Bye!" She started to mumble about stupid comrades when she turned around and walked straight into Asheth.  
  
"I missed you." She said as she enveloped Hofida into a gentle embrace.  
  
"Asheth! Oh! I've missed you so much, too. Glad to be with you." Hofida returned the hug and looked up at her tall friend. "So what's the deal?"  
  
Asheth's face fell as she changed the subject of conversation.  
  
"First we need to wait for Lakari, then I'll tell you what is going on…want to go to my place?"  
  
"Sure thing! Got any chocolate?" Hofida said hopefully. She looked pleadingly into Asheth's eyes as she turned around and began to levitate herself off the ground. Hofida followed her and pouted. "Guess not."  
  
"You know I keep a special stock of bitter sweet dark chocolate just for you…I just restocked it a week ago." Asheth said as she waved Hofida off and picked up her speed and flew into the clouds.  
  
Hofida knew Asheth just wanted to have some fun, so she chased her up into the clouds and waited. Then, out of nowhere Asheth shot out of a group of particularly fluffy clouds and tagged Hofida with great amounts of glee.  
  
"You're it!" She yelled, than flew out of sight again.  
  
"Think you can get away that easily? In your dreams!" She yelled back playfully and started to hunt down her friend.  
  
This lasted for a long time until Hofida tired herself out from darting in and out of the purplish bluish looking clouds and fell asleep. Of course, Asheth caught up in her happy mood, kept hiding herself again and again, until one time she flew over the sleeping form of Hofida sprawled out in the clouds and floated down to watch her.  
  
After a few moments of silence, Asheth realized how tired she was and lay down next to Hofida and eventually fell asleep. So, that night, the dark blue sky with it's millions of sparkling crystals watched over the two young women and danced in the sky, giving good dreams to the two figures deep asleep.  
  
Dark eyelashes fluttered open to reveal mysterious dark purple eyes. She stretched and yawned, then looked over at her sleeping comrade. She wrapped herself up in the clouds and smiled in her sleep.  
  
//Must be having a nice dream…Wonder what it is?//  
  
Hofida stood up and let her sight travel over the horizon, and rested it on the rising sun.  
  
//I wonder what it is like to revolve around the earth? To look over all the world, and see it every day. I wonder what it thinks of the world today? It has been watching it for millions of years. I must keep a good eye on the evolution of the planet. Wait a minute, doesn't the earth revolve around the sun? Oh! Seems to me Asheth is awakening…//  
  
The taller woman stretched as far as possible for getting up in some sort of sleeping position. Her eyes blinked lazily as she looked up at Hofida.  
  
//She hasn't changed a bit.// Thought Asheth. //Still those purple eyes, with that long, dark brown hair with the purple streaks in it…Oh yeah! The adorable bangs, too. Can't forget those…perhaps her personality changed…//  
  
"Watcha thinking?" Hofida jumped down to match her friend's line of sight.  
  
"About you. You haven't changed a bit, you know that?" Asheth said with a sassy smile as she stood up and looked over at the horizon. "Not a single bit." She repeated, looking down at the sitting form of Hofida.  
  
"You think?" Hofida inquired.  
  
"I see, I smell, I know." She replied. Hofida started to laugh at this answer and soon rolled over in a fit of giggles. Asheth raised her eyebrow quizzically and asked whatever was the matter.  
  
"Your" insane giggling "face" more insane giggling "looks…so funny! You have this sort of blank look." Hofida barely got the last sentence out before she cracked up again.  
  
"C'mon, I hungry. Lets go. Maybe we can come back here another time…" Asheth looked down through a small opening in the clouds and watched the far away city bustling with the early morning workers.  
  
"Promise?" Hofida asked as she crawled over to the opening and looked down through it.  
  
"Promise. Now what about some lemon sorbet and mocha fraps? Sound good?" Asheth seemed delighted at the sound of the two foods being put together. Hofida, on the other hand, stuck her tongue out in disgust.  
  
"Can I get some normal food?"  
  
"I have a box of cereal in my apartment somewhere. But no milk. My mocha fraps will have to do."  
  
"Good enough. I'm starved! Lets go!" Hofida complained as she followed Asheth out of the clouds and flew over the ground, everything becoming a blur.  
  
A pair of feet landed softly on the porch and within a few seconds, another pair landed even softer. Asheth was fingering through her keys, trying to find the right one. Hofida, on the other hand, seemed rather interested in the scene taking place on the street.  
  
"Hey, Asheth, come take a look at this. You might be interested." Hofida motioned her friend with her hand to come take a look. Asheth walked over, pretending not to be curious, and she stepped back to the wall with shadows covering it.  
  
"Alright. I don't see what is so interesting." She sighed with annoyance and began to look through her keys once more.  
  
"You don't think that a guy holding a gun to your security guard's head is interesting? Whatever." Hofida leaned out a bit more over the railing to hear a bit better. However, this wasn't necessary for Asheth.  
  
The reason for this was that each assassin had been injected with an abnormal type of DNA. This different type of DNA mixed with the original one and the carrier of the two DNA's would become a mutant, but the mutation could not be seen.  
  
For Hofida is was the ability to walk on water and hang from any angle from any wall without falling off. She enjoyed this greatly. She could always listen in on conversations that should have never been overheard. This was an advantage because she could listen to an enemy's conversation and ditch their plan with ease. Hofida, like Lakari and Asheth, could lift herself into the air and fly about.  
  
For Lakari, she could think of anything and with the right amount of concentration, she could make it appear. This came in very handy when they forgot something on a mission, or just needed anything in general. After some practice, Lakari could just have something pop up in her hand without thinking about it for more then two seconds.  
  
As for Asheth, all of her senses were heightened to the highest possible level. She could hear things miles away as if she were in the actual conversation; her sense of smell was just as amazing. As for her sight, she could focus in on anything in her range of sight as if she was right in front of it. Touch didn't change, nor did taste.  
  
Asheth listened in on the conversation.  
  
"Does she live here?" He man with the gun asked.  
  
"Well, I…uh…" The guard was scared and just started to fidget more when the gun was pushed a bit too hard into his skull.  
  
"Tell me now."  
  
"She does. But she never has a pattern; she never comes out of her apartment either. I wonder sometimes how she gets her food. Now will you leave me alone?"  
  
"Hn." The man replied as he looked up. Asheth pulled Hofida over the railing just in time.  
  
"Who the hell was that and who was he looking for?" Hofida asked as she entered through the porch doors and looked about the apartment.  
  
As soon as Asheth entered, she picked up a very distinct smell.  
  
"Someone is in here. They or it don't know we are here. Get down. Now. Here take this." Asheth whispered as she threw a gun at Hofida. She nodded and held in tensely as Asheth began to walk towards the carrier of the smell.  
  
//It smells very familiar. I just can't place it, though. Wait, here is another one…cooking? Who the hell is cooking? No one cooks in this household, it is just me and my mocha fraps and lemon sorbet. They will never see a darker day.//Asheth thought as she neared the kitchen.  
  
She slinked in and saw the back of a female, happily cooking over the insanely small stove. Asheth never used it anyway, so why did it have to be big? Asheth crept with stealth as she slid across the floor and made her way to her victim.  
  
Hofida heard a scream as her friend grabbed the arms of the woman, twisted her around and held a dagger at her throat. Asheth was about to slit the throat when she recognizied the woman.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Farfello: Oooo…who could it be?  
  
Kay: * Rolls eyes * Stupid question…  
  
Farfello: Shut up! * bashes Kay's head with chibi Zechs*  
  
Chibi Zechs: Ow! Stop that!  
  
Farfello: Ooops…well anyway, leave a review and I'll write some more…if I get some lemon sorbet!!! ^-------^! Yum! Lemon sorbet is like a drug to me…I just keep needing more…ta ta! * runs off to find some lemon sorbet * 


	2. II

Disclaimer: * yawns * Good lord, I'm only on the 2nd chapter and I'm already getting bored of disclaimers…anyway…I don't want no rabid lawyers on my back, so I don't own gw…damn!  
  
Hofida jumped over the counter and held the gun in eye level of Asheth's victim. She was about to pull the trigger when Asheth told her not to and get behind her.  
  
"Huh? Sure, whatever." Hofida sprinted into Asheth's shadow as Asheth dealt with the stranger.  
  
"Who the hell do you think you are, coming in and cooking in my house?"  
  
"Well…I…uh…"  
  
"Lakari! I need a better answer then that!" Asheth said seriously before releasing her grip on her friend and let Hofida jump in glee and hug her. Asheth stepped back and let out a rare, genuine smile.  
  
"Lakari! I haven't seen you in like ages!" Hofida was jumping all over her shorter friend before Lakari pushed her back and took in her two old comrades.  
  
//Look at that…Asheth almost at six feet, Hofida right below her and then me…I'm like a head shorter then both of them? Not fair!//  
  
As Lakari let the thoughts run through her head, Hofida was pondering Lakari's condition.  
  
//She hasn't changed a bit. Still loud, Asian, short, with those dark brown eyes and that long, black silky hair. Most likely Asheth still despises her…but perhaps Asheth has changed…Wrong! Just look at the jealousy shot at her! Still must be protective of me to.//  
  
While both of them were pondering these ideas, Asheth was trying to find an appropriate time to tell them why she had told them to come here. Perhaps she didn't need to think about it…  
  
"Hey, Asheth?" Hofida had found her way to the living room couch and Lakari to the wall with a small frying pan in her hand. Asheth was still standing with her back faced to them. She snapped her head around, as she crossed her arms over her waist.  
  
"Y-y-yes?" Asheth stuttered, hoping they wouldn't realize how much mental pain she was going through. Hofida immediately noticed how Asheth was tightening her grip around her waist with her hands, very uptight.  
  
"Why did you call us?" Lakari asked with all seriousness. Asheth still only had her head turned to them and turned it back around when she began her reasoning.  
  
"Someone is trying to steal my key. Has anything happened to your keys? Or anything relating to them?" Asheth still had her face turned away from them and found sudden interest in the wall facing her.  
  
"WHAT?" Lakari exploded. Asheth sucked her breath in quickly through her mouth, making some sort of hissing noise that meant that this conversation wasn't gonna turn out pretty in the end.  
  
"Woah! Everyone chill! Lakari! Sit down right now and count to ten! Asheth! Turn around and face me! Look me straight in the eye! Ack! Never mind, that is way too scary!" Hofida quickly took control and tried to smooth everything out.  
  
"Now, Lakari, answer Asheth's question. And do it calmly, dammit!" Hofida snapped. Lakari started out shakily but soon became more defiant.  
  
"Well….I didn't mean to yell at you, Asheth. It is just that-"  
  
"The pilot's key you stole is your husband's…I know everything. Yes Hofida. I also know that the pilot's key you stole is your to-be husband." Asheth cut in. There was complete silence then Lakari exploded again.  
  
"You have no right to go looking into people's lives like you are! I thought you said you were going to stop after we stole the keys! You never told us that you continued this…this…insane invasion of people's privacy!" Lakari was on the definite verge of losing it. And Asheth could only keep her cool for a while. Hofida knew both of these key factors was going to ruin their relationship for good, so she interfered before it got too messy to clean up.  
  
"Stop! Please, don't do this! Now, Asheth may not have the right to do what she is doing, but just to yell about it?! That makes the same amount of sense as digging into people's lives! Which is absolutely none! No sense whatsoever!" Hofida was seething in rage about now, but didn't notice her taller comrade heating up for the debate.  
  
"AND WHO GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TAKE PART IN AN ARGUMENT THAT DOESN'T EVEN INVOLVE YOU YET? WHO GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO JUST COME IN AND TAKE OVER? I MAY OF HAVE ASKED YOU TO COME OVER, BUT IT WAS JUST FOR SOME FUCKING QUESTIONS! GOT IT? SO YOU CAN STAY, BUT AS LONG AS YOU SET FOOT IN MY LIAR, I MAKE THE RULES, I FINSIH ARGUMENTS, AND NO ONE GOES AGAINST ME! GOT IT?" Asheth was just dripping wrath.  
  
Neither of her friends had seen her strike this hard verbally before, and it scared both of them awfully.  
  
First Hofida stood there, as if about to say something in return to that blast of rage, but just stood there, and in a few moments, what seemed to Asheth liquid made of the finest diamonds welled up in Hofida's eyes and soon streamed down her pale face. She ran from the room, crying.  
  
Lakari just stood there in shock. She was debating by herself whether to be more amazed that Asheth had just yelled at them like that, or that she just stood there and watched her best friend, almost her sister, break down and cry like that.  
  
"How could you stand there like that? You beast!" Lakari got up, fuming in rage, and strongly slapped Asheth with the back of hand. Asheth almost seemed unfazed by that and just stood there, staring into thin air as Lakari stormed into the kitchen, and threw the small frying pan at the wall. It landed with an angry clatter and then silence resumed, only to be interrupted by the weeping of Hofida.  
  
Asheth didn't know what to do. She stood there then just, for the first time, opening her front door and walked out of her apartment.  
  
Neither of them knew that Asheth had left.  
  
She watched her tall, cruel reflection in the water. As she stepped closer, she looked deeper into the water and then the once calm water rippled. Her image changed. She saw her inner self. Which was nothing except Lustful Purity.  
  
//Is that who I really am?//  
  
Asheth waved the notion away and lost herself in thought. She never noticed the people with great stealth creeping up behind her. And of course, she was never ready for the blow to her head that caused her to collapse and pass out.  
  
A/N: Sorry that was so short! 


	3. III

Disclaimer: Must I continue? I DON"T OWN ANYTHING! Except for my characters. You know, there should be a work for that. Maybe something like naownca.  
  
You know, no own, but the ca stands for characters? Never mind…  
  
Hofida stood by the window, still contemplating the argument that had been so heartlessly ended by her once comrade. The words still rang in her mind. She knew her rights, and she could definitely take part in an argument if she wanted. Why had Asheth been so abrupt? She could understand that someone going after their keys would be bad, but this bad?  
  
//What should I do?// Hofida sunk down next to the window, and rested her head on the cool glass. She sighed, and hoped that everything would turn out for the best, but somehow she knew that wasn't going to happen.  
  
//What would I normally do in times of need like this? Hmm…I know!// Hofida quietly opened the door to the living room, but remembered that Asheth still might be raging in there, and she didn't want to take that chance.  
  
She quietly opened the glass door, slipped through, and walked out onto the porch. She flexed her hands once then jumped over the rail, and grabbed on with her hands to a flat surface.  
  
//Hey, I still stick!// Hofida excitedly thought as she started to gain perspective of the area. She saw a phone booth at the corner and made her way across the wall, checking to make sure no one would see her. It was dark outside, but Hofida had the scariest feeling someone was watching her. She made her merry way down the building and jumped off.  
  
She opened the door to the small booth and stepped in. She dialed the number that was sure to help her and waited.  
  
"Hello?" The voice at the other end of the line picked up.  
  
"Duo? It's me, Hofida. Come over now." Hofida hung up and slipped out of the booth. She looked up into the oncoming storm of the night. After contemplating how dangerous it was to enter the living room where Asheth was still raging, she jumped up the wall and climbed her way onto the porch. She slipped in and shut the glass door behind her.  
  
"Hope this works." Hofida whispered as she quietly opened the door. She stuck her head out and looked around.  
  
"Hofida!" Lakari came running out of the kitchen with her arms wide open.  
  
"Whoa, calm down." Hofida embraced the shorter woman and tried to calm her.  
  
"That bitch standing in this room, made you cry! Let's leave! You hear that-" Lakari looked around the room. It was empty.  
  
"Where did she go, Lakari?" Hofida asked.  
  
"I thought she was in here…"  
  
"Me too. I have a really bad feeling about this." Hofida looked around for traces of her friend.  
  
"Well, you shouldn't care about her anyway." Lakari haughtily stated. Hofida spun around with wide eyes and replied,  
  
"Huh? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Look what she did to you!"  
  
"Uh, she didn't do anything. Look at me, I'm fine." Hofida was awfully confused.  
  
"She emotionally scarred you!" Lakari shouted.  
  
"No she didn't. She just made me cry, that's all." The taller, extremely confused woman replied.  
  
"Exactly! She made you cry! Aren't you upset about that? I am!"  
  
"Oh. I see what you're getting at…" Hofida nodded and looked up at the ceiling.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Thinking."  
  
"Oh. Well, what is your reply?" Lakari snapped crossly.  
  
"Umm…"  
  
"Are you upset or not?" Lakari was hot with anger.  
  
Hofida looked down half confused and half trying to be sincere.  
  
"No."  
  
"WHAT? AFTER WHAT SHE DID TO YOU?" Lakari was really losing it.  
  
"No, she didn't really mean it. She wasn't prepared for the blows we dealt her. It really was an unfair situation. I mean, how would you like it if you were her?"  
  
"Arg…you're making this really harder then necessary. No, I wouldn't like it at all. Anything else you got to say?" Lakari raised her eyebrow when the phone rang.  
  
Both women stood there and let it ring. The answer machine got it.  
  
"Hey! I'm not here right now, like that isn't obvious, but just leave your phone number and name and when I get around to it, I'll call you back!" Asheth's happy voice recording rang out through the silent room.  
  
"Of course you wouldn't be at home, Lustful Purity. But whoever gets this, know this: Your friend won't come back in one piece." An evil feminine voice said.  
  
Hofida raced for the phone and picked it up.  
  
"Hello! Who are you? Where have you-" Her voice faltered. Lakari looked into her eyes, full with concern.  
  
"What's going on, Hofida?"  
  
"They…hung up." Hofida replied, her face pained with much fear. She started to shake violently and Lakari had to led her to the couch and gently made her sit down.  
  
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Don't worry. I'll call Wufei and everything will be alright." Lakari was about to pick up the phone when someone knocked at the door.  
  
"Who the hell could that be?" Lakari muttered as she opened the door.  
  
"Hey! Hofida called. She in?" An overly psyched voice answered.  
  
"Duo?" Hofida weakly called out, but still faced the opposite direction of him. Lakari opened the door wider and looked across the room at her friend. Duo looked too, his head cocked to one side.  
  
Hofida started to sway and Duo bounded in, jumped over the couch and landed next to his lover. He looked at her straight in the eyes.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked, as Lakari shut the door and started to wipe her hands on a dishtowel that she had been carrying around. She went into Asheth's bedroom to use the phone.  
  
"Asheth…" Hofida mumbled.  
  
"Who?" Duo held her shoulders tightly and shook her. She looked at him with her head cocked to one side, but her eyes strayed from his.  
  
"Asheth. She promised me we would play again in the clouds…" Hofida said a bit more clearly before she started to sway and then pass out.  
  
"Hofida!" Duo freaked and got up, leaned over his lover and checked her. "Wake up!"  
  
"Hmm?" Hofida seemed to be in a heavy trance.  
  
"Who is this Asheth?" Duo asked.  
  
"Asheth…Asheth….Lustful Purity…You must save her…" Hofida barely got out the last part before she completely passed out.  
  
It took Duo a few seconds to recognize that name. He let Hofida fall back into the couch as he sat back up, his eyes paralyzed with fear.  
  
//Lustful Purity…How could…Who could…Hmm…I better let Heero know…// Duo flopped back into the pillows and sighed.  
  
At that moment, Lakari entered the room again, and let her gaze quickly flicker over the two. In an instant she was at Hofida's side. Of course, she accused Duo.  
  
"You did something to her, didn't you?" Lakari looked with steel cold eyes.  
  
"Don't look at me. I just listened to her." Duo didn't even bother to face the woman, fearing the consequences.  
  
"Listened?" Lakari suddenly seemed nervous. Duo found this interesting and propped himself up on the pillows and watched the Asian's actions.  
  
"Yes, why?" Duo persisted.  
  
"Let it pass. Now get out of here! At least sit in another seat! I need to take care of Hofida. Well, move!" Lakari snapped, once again the woman with a hard-core will.  
  
Duo knew this kind of temper, he had experienced it before with Hilde. He quickly got out of the way and sat down in a chair where he could easily see Hofida's face.  
  
Minutes soon grew into hours, and hours into days. It was almost a week when Hofida woke up. When she woke up, to her, everything seemed hazy, but she soon regained memory of what had happened and lost it.  
  
"Remind me again, why haven't we started looking for Asheth?" Hofida seemed rather upset.  
  
"Well, its like this. We have no idea where she is, and nothing about her has come up. So, this will take a while." Wufei explained, looking up from his book.  
  
"Okay…and who are you again?" Hofida got up and walked about, trying to rid herself of the stiffness that barely let her move.  
  
"Wufei. Lakari's husband." Wufei quizzically eyed her as she paced near the window.  
  
"Ah. Right, and who are you?" Hofida suddenly spun around, and looked directly at Heero.  
  
"Heero."  
  
"Right…and how do I know you?" She questioned him.  
  
"Duo's friend."  
  
"Oh. Never seen you before, but I'll believe that. So, where do we start?" Hofida looked fully prepared for anything.  
  
"Good question. Where does this…Asheth work?" Heero asked Hofida.  
  
"Well…I don't rightly know." She replied.  
  
"WHAT?" Everyone said at once.  
  
"Hey, I thought she ended that business a long time ago. After we…never mind." Hofida just remembered that the three men in the room were the ones that they stole the keys from, and she could not let them know it was them who stole their keys.  
  
"Business?" Duo asked. Hofida stood up a bit taller and continued.  
  
"Yeah, so?" She sounded rather brave.  
  
"So, we're asking what business did she part take in?" Wufei calmly asked. Lakari shot a dangerous glance at Hofida and sighed.  
  
"Guess we better tell them." Lakari said to no one in particular.  
  
"WHAT? No way! Not until we get Asheth back!" Hofida suddenly burst into a fit of rage. This was certainly unexpected.  
  
"We have to! We can't save her alone! We're gonna need their help! How the hell can they help us and us keep that certain secret? Huh?" Lakari coldly snapped.  
  
"We can do it alone! We have to! We should keep the secret until the very last possible second! Besides, what would Asheth think if we just spewed out all that hidden information, huh?" Hofida was shaking with anger.  
  
"Shit. You're right on that one…we wouldn't be alive after that explanation with her…" The Asian flopped back into the couch, sighing.  
  
"Well, we better get started, then. Coming Lakari?" Hoifda headed for the door.  
  
"Can't have you going by yourself, can I?" Lakari got up and started for the door.  
  
"Excuse me, what about us?" Duo asked, obviously feeling excluded.  
  
"Stay here! And don't touch a thing!" Lakari called back. The door clicked and locked.  
  
"We're locked in here." Wufei observed.  
  
"No shit, Sherlock!" Duo rolled his eyes and decided to get some sleep. 


End file.
